An interesting idea is that many times we look back at ‘yesterday’ and think that yesterday was easy or the times were more simple. To a degree I feel this is true, at least when we state that times were simpler.
I can remember growing up as a kid, adolescent, young man…man…in an age where there were no personal computers or phones and yes, life was a lot easier and more simple. Those times will be memories I will always treasure. I cannot overstate the fact that life was better and I pity people now who might never know of that.
Now was life more simpler with photography? Maybe not, so technology might have actually improved. For instance, while I am not a scenic photographer, I can appreciate someone like Ansel Adams. Since he died in 1984, he never knew of the digital world, only analog. He knew only of the ‘wet darkroom’ and not the ‘dry darkroom’. He, like many photographers today, might spend hours in the field waiting for the right light or shadows to fall. Yet with film; as I know too…..you really are not sure of what will be on the film until after you develop it. That analog approach is very satisfying for sure as I too shoot film with my Leica M6. So it isn’t like shooting film is any better or worse, for it depends on the mood I might be trying to create as well as the acceptance of ‘not knowing’ until after I develop the film.
With digital photography it is much easier. I can immediately see the result of a shot and even prior to the shot I can shoot ‘live view’ and capture just what I want prior to pressing the shutter. Is this digital approach better t than analog? I can’t really say, but it differs. Admittedly there is something gained in the process of photography that is lost in digital. This process involves everything from the start to the end. This process is mostly intangible. The feeling of loading the film……the feeling of waiting for the perfect moment for remember, I have one shot usually to take with street photography before the scene leaves me, as opposed to a digital camera that might be able to capture 12-15 frames a second. The feeling I get from ‘not knowing’ is an intangible I enjoy for once I do develop the film, it is like Christmas as I view the negatives. Wow….I nailed that shot, or….ho hum.
The intangibleness of it continues as I might have to re-wind the film in the field, and I might have to load in the field under raw conditions. Even after the fact as I develop my film I go through the developing process using wet chemicals. I rotate the developing can and watch the time go by. Tick, tock… about 20 min per film. Then I hang the film to dry. Again, all analog, all intangible elements to shooting film.
But, for me…… I will take my negatives and scan them into my ‘dry darkroom’. The scanning process itself as I load the negatives onto a tray (4-5 frames at a time) is still analog but once I have on my computer, it becomes digital.
I must admit that a dry darkroom (I use Pixelmator and Pixelmator Pro on my Mac Desktop), is a whole lot easier than going thru the chemical process to go beyond film development and into film processing. So even when I use film to shoot, I use a combination of analog to digital. The one thing that is a bit awkward (although that isn’t the word I want) is I find myself with a lack of frames when shooting film. I just run out of frames that I work with and have to return and shoot more. Since I rarely shoot even a roll of film (36) when out any given day, and out of those 36 developed images I might get 2-3 good ones…..well, you can see I run out of material.
That is where digital comes into play…..while I still take my time and don’t attempt to take a ton of shots, ….just because I can…….using my digital Ricoh, I usually end up with more that 35 images to process. Funny thing is thought that the ration of 3 good images (let’s say that is standard or about 8-9%)) on any roll of film, isn’t really any different than the ration of good images I take on my Ricoh, even though I shoot more. But since I do shoot more with my Ricoh (usually 100 images in a day), I just have more images to play with as the ratio is still 8-9%.
So…..what does this all mean? Really nothing….. as I still enjoy shooting film and developing my own film. I enjoy shooting with my Ricoh as it really is the best Street camera on the market. It is so much lighter to hold than a 3 pound Leica M6, especially when the weather is humid or real cold or I am walking 15 miles that day!
My thoughts…..